Swim was great. I felt strong from start to finish, and was really pumped up by the time I finished.

Nothing.

I was pretty focused and snappy (for me) in the transition. The one problem came when I went to leap onto my bike and discovered I'd left my cafe cover on my left cleat! I had to get off the bike and remove it before proceeding on. D'OHH!

Make sure my equipment is ready. Also, I tried pulling the wetsuit arm off with my goggles and cap in my left hand so that it would be left inside the arm. Somehow they fell out and after the race I realized I'd lost my new goggles.

I started out great, full of excitement after my swim, but got deflated when I was shown a yellow card for (supposedly) riding in the left lane too long without passing. It was really crowded and I was just trying to keep a steady pace, and I guess that's what happened. It really messed with my mojo, but some words of encouragement from a rider who had been with me at the time (and didn't see the violation) and some time allowed me to get going again. Still, I was a little wary of passing people from then on, and frustrated by people who would pass me, then slow down, which would force me to slow down too since you're not allowed to pass back right away. I decided that it would be fun to sit in the penalty tent and began to relish my "bad boy" status a little. I ate power bar bits that I'd stuck to my top tube and drank water and gatorade. It was cool seeing the men's leader go by, and then Chrissie Wellington, far ahead of the rest of the women, and with only six men in front of her at the time. Two bathroom stops.

Follow the rules, I guess. I grew to hate the sound of that motorcycle coming up behind me.

I was slowed by having to stop by the penalty tent. As it turned out, I didn't have to sit there, I just had to sign in, so I was feeling good about not having to lose as much time as I'd thought I would. I had some trouble racking my bike because the guy next to me had left his heavy backpack in my slot. I tried pushing it with the tire as I racked it, but it wouldn't budge, so had to grab it and toss it aside. Otherwise, I was pretty snappy in this transition.

This was a really enjoyable run. The crowds were great, lots of smiling NH kids, I loved the icy sponges, and especially the snowballs that they were handing out at one stop (I put the snowball under my cap). There was one short but fairly steep incline that seemed to separate the fit from the tiring, and some ups and downs. Saw Chrissie Wellington glide by during my first loop. I ran the whole way except around mile 7 when I walked to eat a gel. Other than that, I just drank water throughout the run and had plenty of energy.

Nothing, really. It was a good run.

Saw Jon and the kids as I finished, got my medal from the little girl who was Chrissie Wellington's Make A Wish friend, then posed for a picture with Chrissie. I walked around a bit to keep from getting stiff. A guy passed out, so I helped him to the medical tent, which was actually pretty hard to find. Then there was an announcement that a severe thunderstorm with damaging winds and hail in the area, so I got my stuff and got out of there quickly. It turned out that people still on the course were limited to one lap of the run, and they cancelled the awards ceremony.


Well, I did a long run and bike the weekend before, and only tapered the one week. Would a longer taper have helped me do better? Who knows? I was psyched to break 6 hours!